Saturday, July 28, 2012

Moon Phase Astrology

Time Out: This may be the most creative, interesting astrology book published in 2011. Raven Kaldera expands our understanding of Dane Rudhyar’s classic, “The Lunation Cycle” by cross-pollinating the eight phases of the “Lunation Cycle” with the moon in all twelve zodiac signs for a total of ninety-six different archetypes. The entire cycle repeats every 240 days, which is close to the 236 days that Venus spends as a morning star (the two patterns may not be related, but it is interesting to see how a similar cycle operates in terms of the moon).

(July 18, 2012), but I wanted to expand on it a little. This article is not a re-write of that review, so reading it first might be a good idea.

Kaldera is a Northern tradition pagan (Norse but not reconstructionist) and an experienced shaman. My sense is that he uses spirit helpers to guide his astrology, and the result is access to astrological ideas that are very different from the mainstream. Astrology revealed through trance or channeling of other-worldly wisdom doesn’t get the respect it deserves from traditionalists in astrology – these are the same folks who refuse to acknowledge the value of the Sabian symbols or give Elsie Wheeler credit for channeling them. My own view is that when revealed knowledge creates a bulls-eye match across a lot of horoscopes, its time to pay attention.

“The Lunation Cycle” was probably Rudhyar’s most widely read book, even though none of his books are an easy read, to say the least. You don’t need to have read “The Lunation Cycle” first in order to understand Kaldera’s book, but a quick recap of the classic may be helpful.

Here are some brief notes from a long-ago lecture I attended with Moses Siregar III:

NEW MOON – Not a large karmic burden – these natives are child-like in their energy. Moses Siregar III describes old and new version of the New Moon. He feels the young are just here to explore themselves, while the old ones have quiet energy and are going to do what they are here to do.

FIRST QUARTER (Waxing Quarter) – This phase is one crisis after another, and the focus is on scrambling to survive. Take it from me. This is my natal moon phase.

GIBBOUS – Siregar identifies it as perfect and very picky, and also notes the hard-driving, authoritative expression. Kaldera shows how this is truer in some signs more than others. I call it the corporate moon. The highest material expression of the moon happens here.

FULL MOON – Siregar says this moon learns through relationships, and tends to be focused on one long marriage, or on multiple marriages. Kaldera feels this moon has the best chance of liking themselves, but shows how it is hard for loved ones to access their minds and hearts.

DISSEMINATING MOON – This moon spills over and offers its knowledge and wisdom to the world in some manner.

THIRD QUARTER (Waning Quarter)– Siregar notes that this is the season of giving in to the dark – he feels that many of these natives reach an impasse (something that they really wanted isn’t going to happen for them). Kaldera feels this phase and the FIRST QUARTER phase are the most challenging natally.

BALSAMIC – The moon is almost spent and out of energy in its final phase. Its natives tend to be calmer and less reactive emotionally, too.

***
In "Moon Phase Astrology", Kaldera takes the above framework and shows it manifesting in each of the signs. The Libra New Moon is the “White Knight’s Moon” while the First Quarter Libra Moon is the “Black Knight’s Moon”. The contrast does turn out to be stark, but notice how a phase is skipped. In some signs, he shows how energy is carried from one phase to the next – for example, Full Moon, Disseminating Moon, and Waning Quarter Moon in Virgo are all “Fate” moons, but the Waning Quarter moon is the most “fated” of all.

How accurate are some of Kaldera’s descriptions? Here’s an excerpt from “Fate Moon”, the Waning Quarter moon in Virgo:

“The third Fate is the one who gets to say No, to draw the line and cut the cord….and she is lonely enough to want to reach out. Yet it seems that whenever she centers her life on others, things go wrong. She is forced to make difficult choices and defend her boundaries, and often cuts the cord and retreats again into solitary meditation. Being the one to mark out death is not an easy job, and it makes her desperate for human validation and coldly withdrawn by turn.

Still, she is required to render service to others. That service consists of saying No, setting boundaries, and perhaps of causing death. This is an important service that most people don’t appreciate unless they are in bad need of it, so she receives a lot of hostility in spite of her best efforts…

Many Fate’s Moon people live alone or end up living alone. A lot of time is spent facing health issues and death, of loved ones and themselves. Work is important to them, and the best job is either a service job that does not get closely involved or some kind of solitary work….This is not a Moon that is destined to learn about deep empathic melding with others…"

This is the natal moon for James Holmes, a 24 year old former neurology PhD candidate at the University of Colorado Medical School, who is better known as the Colorado Theater Gunman. He was born on Dec 13, 1987. In the space of a few moments, he shot 71 people, and killed 12 of them.

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